Dec. 05, 2012 6:02 p.m. | South Milwaukee - What is the price for regaining some of the good old days?

Mary Nelson and a couple thousand supporters are asking Milwaukee County to spend several hundred thousand dollars or more on restoring one page of South Milwaukee's past.

The county should dredge several feet of accumulated muck from an old mill pond on Oak Creek to restore recreational opportunities for youth, particularly ice skating, said Nelson, a former alderman. Two long mounds of dirt rise high above the water like sandbars and cover one-fourth of the pond's surface along Oak Creek Parkway near Grant Park.

Nelson envisions a return to the 1960s and '70s, a time when her six children were growing up in South Milwaukee and skating on the pond formed by a historic county-owned dam. They warmed their toes at a fireplace inside the shelter house on the south bank of the pond.

The pond and dam, and winter activities, go back decades earlier in the city's history. A dam was built about one mile upstream of Lake Michigan around 1840 for a grist mill and it was rebuilt in the 1860s. The structure was reconstructed in the 1930s for recreation and aesthetics, state dam records show.

Dec. 04, 2012 10:16 p.m. | It was a personal challenge from Brown Deer coach Kelly Appleby to senior forward Donte Harmon and to the Falcon team in general.

Their unbeaten start to the season was serious jeopardy Tuesday night in Greendale, as Panther guards Jordan Perez (17 points in the first half) and Nick Dalton (15 points in the same session) ran around and through the Falcon defense to the tune of a 31-17 second quarter outburst that put Brown Deer in a 49-36 hole at the break.

"We struggled big time in the first half defensively," said Appleby. "Perez is a very fine player, but we were letting him get to the basket much too easily. We had to go out there and make a bit more uncomfortable."

"We were going to put Donte (Harmon) on him in the first half, but he (Harmon) picked up two fouls, but once we did it in the second half, he (Harmon) was spectacular. We took away the main focus to their offense and then we found a little rhythm ourselves."

Indeed, Perez scored only one more point the rest of the game and Dalton was held scoreless in the second half as the Falcons turned up the team pressure, flipping the score with an impressive 28-7 third quarter run that eventually led to an 85-70 Brown Deer victory.

Dec. 04, 2012 3:16 p.m. | In the wake of a high-profile bomb threat at Greendale High School this fall that brought conversations about student bullying to the forefront, the Greendale School District is implementing a new online reporting system for problematic behavior.

The district announced last week that a new Safer Schools online reporting form is available from the district's high school and middle school websites. It can be used by parents, students and members of the community to report bullying, harassment or illegal activity to the administration, according to the district. Those who submit the forms can identify themselves or remain anonymous.

The Greendale Schools Climate and Culture Task Force, made up of school staff, community members and students, has been meeting to discuss bullying in schools and gaps in existing services.

Results from a recent school climate survey reveal data points that many parents and students probably already suspect about bullying: Most student respondents said verbal insults happen rarely in the classroom at GHS, but often over text messages or social media. Close to three-quarters of students do not believe specific students are continuously targeted; about three-quarters of the staff do believe specific students are continuously targeted.

The task force was formed after Nicholas Olsen, a Greendale High School student at the time, was arrested for writing a bomb threat in the boys' bathroom before homecoming weekend. Prosecutors recommended a lesser misdemeanor charge for Olson because of reports that he had endured prolonged bullying at the hands of his peers. Olson's plea date is scheduled for Jan. 2.